Oh I've spent so much time on this chapter and I'm really pleased with it actually. Only a couple more chapters to go! :-)
"What the hell, Ron?!" Ginny stormed towards her brother and thumped him hard against his shoulder. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
"It's none of your business..." He frowned and turned away from Ginny, urgently trying to locate the direction in which Hermione had gone. He spotted a head full of curls heading towards the exit so turned and followed her quickly; vaguely aware of Harry and Ginny following close on his heels.
He called for Hermione to stop as he watched her emerge from the party and pull her wand out, but she apparated before he had a chance to get close enough to stop her.
"Fucks sake..." He ran with Harry towards the spot where Hermione disappeared, searching for any sign that she may have splinched herself.
"I think she's okay Ron..." Harry grabbed his best friend by the arm, holding him back as the tall ginger started to pull out his own wand. "Ginny will go after her..."
"No she won't..." Ron turned towards his sister, giving her a look as if to say, 'I dare you'. "I need to sort this out..."
Ginny scoffed. "Do you really think that's a good idea?!"
"Again, it's none of your fucking business..." Ron pulled his arm out of Harry's grasp and apparated before either of them could stop him.
Hermione fell to her knees as soon as she hit the ground outside the Burrow; her body racked with sobs. She'd really gone and blown everything this time. All her hopes of moving back home, of forming some sort of relationship with Ron had gone straight out of the window with that kiss. She was so consumed with her pain; the look of disgust and regret on Ron's face as he pulled away from the kiss, that she didn't notice the loud crack announcing the arrival of someone else until she heard him speak her name.
"Leave me alone, Ron..." Hermione pushed herself up from the ground, wiping her eyes quickly.
Ron laughed slightly. "You can't tell me to leave my own parent's house..." He lifted his wand, muttering a quiet 'accio' under his breath before catching the glass of water that came flying towards him. He passed it to Hermione. "Drink this..."
Hermione took the glass and concentrated only on drinking it. Her head was reeling and she felt sick and she was pretty sure it wasn't the tequila making her feel this way.
Ron waited patiently as he watched her finish the glass and get her sobs under control before filling the glass again using his wand.
"Keep drinking but listen to me..." He kept his gaze away from her, worried that if he looked at her in this state, he'd lose all resolve and just try and comfort her. He really needed to just finally clear the air with her; for the sake of everyone.
"Firstly, don't you ever do that to us again; do you hear me? You're bloody brilliant at apparating but even you know it's not safe to do it after that much alcohol! You scared the life out of us!"
Hermione flinched; he was using that only slightly elevated voice that he'd learnt in Auror training and it affected her more than if he were just shouting at her. Despite this, she couldn't fight the barbed response escaping from her lips.
"Oh don't worry, the look of pure disgust on your face was enough to sober me up..."
Ron clenched his jaw and turned to look at her. He could see the electricity coursing through her body; she was desperate for a fight, but he wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. Although usually he'd be up for fighting it out with her, his Auror training had taught him to evaluate his feelings in a second and keep his cool instead of firing off the handle like he used to. It was one of the reasons he was constantly coming top of his class.
"Hermione, stop!" He sighed. "If you though I was disgusted at what happened, would I even be here right now? We shouldn't have kissed, but I would never be disgusted at kissing you. I'm just pissed off I let it happen..." He rubbed his forehead.
"So why are you here? Do you want to take it back so you can appease your guilty conscience?!"
Ron glanced up as a light came on above the second-floor landing in the house. "Come with me? Before my parents come nosing at what's going on?"
He didn't wait for a response but started walking down towards the lake anyway. He avoided 'their' spot and plonked himself down in the long grass, watching as she settled next to him but at a distance. Finally he spoke again.
"I'm here because I care about you..." He pulled up at handful of grass absentmindedly. "You're still my best friend but this year has been really fucked up - you've said and done a lot of hurtful things..."
Hermione hung her head slightly with a sigh. "I know..."
"Not only that, you seem to think it's okay to just mess us about. Decide to be in our lives but then not be in our lives. Everything was alright until you all of a sudden decided that you could come home. Then everything was thrown up in the air for a week and then you'd just fuck off back to Australia... I was happy with Lavender, but all of a sudden we're arguing every time you're home because I still fucking stick up for you... I'm a fucking idiot; you're the one who broke things off. What did you expect me to do?"
Hermione felt more tears fill her eyes, but this time she did nothing to stop them. Hearing him say he was happy with Lavender broke her heart, and she finally understood how much she'd hurt him by calling it off and sending back her ring. It pierced her heart and made her stomach turn to liquid.
She fought back the feeling of nausea as she gave herself a few minutes to collect her thoughts. When she did finally speak again, it was slow and deliberate, like she was carefully weighing each word before saying them out loud.
"It was my choice to stay in Australia. I couldn't force you to wait for me anymore. Not after already making you wait for me to finish school. You were right to move on..."
Ron spoke quietly. "I wanted to wait. Maybe not for a whole bloody year, but you know I would have done it if that's what you needed..."
"Just like you would have given up Auror training to look after the baby if we'd decided to keep it..." Hermione felt fresh tears in her eyes. "Maybe we should have kept it and then we'd still be together..."
"Yeah and we'd both be even more unhappy..." Ron gave her a poignant look and she knew he was right.
"When I called and told you I was staying, you sounded furious with me..."
"Well of course I was. You took me by surprise. When I took you to the airport we both agreed it wasn't goodbye; that you'd be there for a fortnight. Then you throw a bloody grenade at me like 'bye Ron I'll see you in a year...' and just expect me to be okay with it. How was I supposed to act?!"
Hermione shrugged, but her cheeks burnt so red Ron could see them in the darkness. He watched her closely for a moment; feeling bad that she was crying but knowing he had to continue. Now that he'd started to open up, he didn't want to stop. They needed everything out in front of them if they could ever move on properly.
"When you first came home, you told me you didn't have a reason to arrange the portkeys before. That really hurt me 'Mione..."
Hermione lifted her head, frowning slightly. "That's not what I meant..."
Ron shrugged. "It's how it sounded..."
"The red tape and bureaucracy around international travel was an absolute nightmare. It still is. I had to ask Kingsley to step in and help in the end and even then, he had to pull a lot of favours. Like time-turner levels of favours..." She sighed. "If I'd thought there was even the slightest chance that I could have arranged it before, you know I would have..."
Ron raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Yeah alright..." He pulled at the grass again, looking forlorn.
"No, I mean it! I'm sorry if I hurt you with what I said but you know that's not what I intended. International magical travel is still a major deal. The Australian Ministry have actually offered me a job working in the department responsible for trying to come up with a solution..."
"Oh?"
"Yeah... I sent a few proposals in after my first couple of times travelling home. We're magical, for Merlin's sake, it should be easier than it is!"
A flash of anger travelled over Ron's face, surprising and confusing Hermione.
"Great..." Ron dumped the grass on the floor and started to push himself up.
"Wait, where are you going?" Hermione frowned as she watched him before quickly scrambling to her feet.
"Well what even is the point of this? Trying to talk it all out so we can be friends if you're just fucking off back to Australia. I'm so done with you abandoning me Hermione..." Ron started to walk back towards the house, his head hanging sadly. It re-broke her heart all over again.
Hermione struggled to catch up with him, finally reaching for his hand to pull him back to her. He resisted briefly but she was determined and eventually Ron stopped walking. When he turned back to her, his face was still clouded in anger.
Hermione tightened her grip on his hand. "I also got a job offer at the Ministry of Magic. They want me to join the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures so I can carry on with what I started with my research..." She didn't let go of his hand, feeling like if she did her thoughts of moving home would be over. "I want to stay here this time. I was going to ask your mum if I could use their owl in the morning to accept..."
"But what about your parents?" Ron visibly softened, but only slightly.
Hermione shrugged. "They like it in Australia, I assume that's where they'll stay..."
"So what does that mean for you?"
Hermione shrugged again and finally let go of his hand. "I haven't thought it all through; I didn't even decide to stay until we were back at Harry and Ginny's. I've had such a good day, and night with you and it all of a sudden hit me that you three and the rest of your family are just as much my family too." She sighed and wiped the tears off her cheek again. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to realise it..."
Ron watched her closely for a moment. Eventually he let out a sigh and held one arm out for her, giving a her a small smile as she hesitantly moved into it. He wrapped both arms around her and just held her until she finished crying.
Hermione eventually broke the hug, taking a small step away from him. "I just..." She sighed. "I know all of this is my fault, but I need to know that things will be okay - that we'll be friends again."
Ron pulled her back into the hug carefully. "It's gonna take some time. You really hurt me. And you're going to have to learn to get on with Lavender so that my life gets a little easier..." He pulled her tighter to him. "You're going to have stop snogging me too!" He let out a small laugh.
She laughed too, burying her head against his chest. "I really am sorry..."
Ron smiled and let go of her, moving his arm to her shoulder. "Come on, let's get you back to the house before my mum wakes up and wonders where you are..."